NEW Year's Eve in a crowded pub where you can't get a seat or hear a conversation, or a picture postcard cottage in the Welsh countryside with all your mates?

NEW Year's Eve in a crowded pub where you can't get a seat or hear a conversation, or a picture postcard cottage in the Welsh countryside with all your mates?

Increasingly, people are choosing a private New Year's Eve where they get to choose the company and entertainment - with particular advantages for parents who don't need babysitters, or young revellers looking for a taxi home.

According to the Wales Tourist Board, Wales is ideally placed to take advantage of this growing trend because of its wide variety of high quality cottages across the country.

And whether it is for large groups of friends or a romantic break for two, self-catering operators say they are being inundated with requests for accommodation and will be almost as full this midwinter as at other, warmer times of year.

Julian Burrel of Wales Holidays, which has 550 self-catering properties on its books, had only 30 left before Christmas and was expecting to take bookings right until the last minute this week.

Pembrokeshire-based Coastal Cottages, too, was almost full, with nearly 400 of its 500 properties booked.

"New Year has always been a popular time to take a break and continues to be so," said Mr Burrel.

"It's more popular than Christmas, which is more of a family time.

"With larger parties, properties have been booked up for months.

"You often get two families going away together and these sort of properties have been booked up since last Easter."

Tim Brace, of Tenby-based FBM holidays said the West Wales town - often voted as one of the top destinations to celebrate the New Year in Britain - was always popular after Christmas, and bookings were running at 70 to 80% of all properties on its books.

"It's a very important time of year for us," he said.

New Year has always been in the holiday calendar, but operators saw bookings rise dramatically for the millennium celebrations. With many people wanting to celebrate the dawn of 2000 away with friends, operators put up their rates, which gave many owners the idea of letting their properties in the winter.

Since then, the trend has continued.

"New Year is far more important than Christmas," said Sophie Evans, of Coastal Cottages.

"My own theory is that while people want to do the right thing at Christmas like visiting the family, they tend to save the New Year for more fun stuff.

"Christmas is about family, while the New Year is more about friends.

"And - let's face it - if you're going to be attacking a turkey and cooking loads of vegetables, you often prefer to be at home in a kitchen you know."

Most of the visitors who come to Wales to celebrate New Year are from Britain, with only 1 or 2% from further afield, in contrast to summer where almost 10% are overseas visitors.

And most are increasingly keen to stay a week rather than just a few days' short break.

Ms Evans said there was huge appeal in a winter break, particularly as recent advances in the quality of properties on offer meant that many offered central heating as well as the more traditional open fires.

"You can go for a brisk walk along the beach and then come back home to a cosy cottage and wrap up warm in front of the fire," she said.

And she added that if people found New Year prices too high, the same experience could be found throughout the rest of January but cheaper.

We're drinking and eating with like-minded people

RICHARD DAVIES, 37, from Cardiff, is celebrating the new year at a Celtic Haven cottage in Lydstep, Pembrokeshire.

"We just like to go away with a group of people to celebrate the New Year, and have done for the last two to three years," Richard said.

"Rather than stay in Cardiff, it's nice to come to a cottage to enjoy the new year and do something different - drinking and eating with like-minded people.

"Here we can go for walks along the coast and beaches, and we will also visit Tenby town.

"I think the coast is one of the main reasons we like coming down here.

"Although we do go to other places, there's something about this place that makes us come back quite a bit."

Capture a 12th century castle overlooking the sea

WANT something a little bit more grand than a Welsh cottage?

Then how about Manorbier Castle, pictured, one of the most picturesque castles in Wales.

The 12th century castle, which overlooks the sea in South Pembrokeshire, was the birthplace in about 1146 of Gerald of Wales, who famously described it as "the pleasantest spot in Wales."

Unlike its near neighbour at Pembroke, the castle saw little in the form of military action.

For many years it belonged to the De Barry family and the castle changed hands peacefully over the generations.

It is still in private hands today and often features in film and TV productions.

Most recently it was the backdrop to the #5.5m film I Capture The Castle produced by the man behind Shakespeare in Love and starring Tara Fitzgerald and Bill Nighy.

For the New Year week, Manorbier Castle, which sleeps 10, will set you back #879.

Festivities set to be the bozziest yet

MORE people than ever could be welcoming in the New Year at home if sales of alcohol are any indication, it emerged yesterday.

Retailers reported record demand for beer and champagne in the past few days - higher even than in the run-up to the millennium.

Supermarket chain Tesco, among those to benefit, claimed consumers were finally rejecting what it called "rip-off prices" charged by pubs and clubs on New Year's Eve.

The weather could also play a part, with forecasters predicting wet and windy conditions across the UK.

Marks & Spencer said it had seen unprecedented demand for champagne which, combined with poor weather conditions in France earlier this year, could put a strain on future supplies.

The chain reported champagne sales up 25% on the Millennium, with 100,000 bottles snapped up in the past four days.

Allan Webb, beers, wines and spirits manager at Sainsbury's, said, "This year is set to be the booziest ever, with alcohol sales over New Year set to exceed the Millennium."

Tesco has sold 1.1 million bottles of champagne in the past four days, meaning demand is up 41% compared with just before the Millennium. Demand for vintage champagne is up 75%.

Mark Murphy, beer, wines and spirits director at Tesco, said, "Enjoying a night out on New Year's Eve can easily cost upwards of #100 per person and that's just for club entry and drinks.

"If you add the cost of a taxi in the early hours of New Year's Day, you could be looking at another #40 and most people don't have that kind of money to throw around after Christmas."

Rob Hayward, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, dismissed suggestions that venues would be quiet as more people stay at home.

"I think the alcohol sales from supermarkets has more to do with the fact that a lot of people have a four-day holiday starting on New Year's Eve and are organising parties on that basis."

Lose weight, spend more time in the garden or feel fear - who's planning to do what in 2004

IT'S that time of year again - when we make a series of promises to ourselves, most of which go pear-shaped during January.

So here, to show you that you're not alone, The Western Mail asked a host of Welsh celebrities and politicians what resolutions they will be making come midnight tonight.

Welsh rugby legend and Western Mail columnist Gareth Edwards does not make New Year resolutions - but he has plenty of aspirations for 2004.

He said, "Let's hope Wales will build on the World Cup enterprise and turn good performances into victories. And why not beat the world champions?"

Mr Opik,who was seriously injured in a paragliding accident but remains an advocate of hazardous sports, said fear could exist outside the sporting arena.

MPJohn Smith hopes to help usher in a healthier Britain by spending an hour in the gym each week and campaigning for smokeless cigarettes, as sold in Sweden. These, he believed, could save the lives of 44,000 men a year.

Plaid Cymru's Ieuan Wyn Jones resolved, "The New Year's resolution I would find most attractive is to try to find regular 'space' each week to have real thinking time.

"The current demand on politicians to give instant solutions is diminishing us. We all need time to think things through a lot better."

"To convince the make-up industry to invent self-removing mascara. To stop going to bed with bars of chocolate - very bad for the bed linen."

Labour's Christine Gwyther, said, "We have become a nation where rudeness is accepted - unless, that is, it is delivered by someone younger than ourselves, at which point we become collectively outraged.

"What hypocrites we all are. Young people as a whole are no more rude than people my age (44) or even older.

"We could all make more of an effort. It costs nothing, puts smiles on faces and makes the world go round."

Liberal Democrat Peter Black said, "My New Year resolution is the same as every year, 'Don't make New Year resolutions because as the Government demonstrates day after day, the setting of unrealistic targets achieves nothing.'"

Plaid AMOwen John Thomas joked, "I have resolved to persuade Rhodri Morgan that his side-stepping of oral questions will not lead to his scoring any tries for Wales."

Conservative Mark Isherwood said his resolution was to "defeat spin and dogma, to champion honest debate and delivery on the real issues of concern to the people... and to make better progress as a Welsh learner."

Fellow Tory Lisa Francis said, "I think it would be good when people join the motorway if everybody lets three people in from the filter lane. It might keep the traffic moving and people might be nicer."

But her colleague Jonathan Morgan said, "Personally, as a pro-European I intend continuing in my mission to assist the French in drinking their wine lake."

His colleague Glyn Davies added, "I am going to speak Welsh to someone every day. If it really is the language of Heaven I ought to be proficient in its use.

"And I am going to spend more time in my garden. If everyone else involved in politics was forced to do the same we would have less and better government."

Liberal Democrat Jenny Randerson said, "My New Year's resolution is that all politicians should answer the questions they are asked, not the one they wanted to answer."

Labour's Carwyn Jones gave perhaps the most candid response.

Like many Welshmen his New Year's Resolution is "to lose weight".

T4 presenter Steve Jones is refusing to make any New Year's resolutions for 2004.

He said, "I suppose I should say I am going to give up smoking but I don't want to.

"I have given up making New Year's resolutions. They never work for me."

Jamie Oliver from the Lost Prophets New Year's resolution is to get fit while bandmate Lee wants to get fat.